189: Chapter 189 The Last Lesson

"Time never waits for anyone, children, even if you feel you still have the entire summer vacation."

Dumbledore stood at the front of the Great Hall, his voice reaching the ends of the four long tables.

Half of the silver plates from the end-of-term feast had already been cleared away, and pale cloud shadows drifted across the ceiling.

The students' hearts had long since flown to the return train and vacation letters, but the moment the word "time" fell, several people looked up at the same time.

Hermione stopped writing first. Harry looked up.

Snape sat on one side of the staff table, his wine glass untouched.

Professor McGonagall glanced at Dumbledore, then looked toward the Gryffindor table.

Draco kicked Allen under the Slytherin table. "He's coming for you."

Allen pushed the pumpkin juice in his plate further away. "Don't kick the wrong person."

"I could kick you even with my eyes closed."

Pansy said in a low voice: "Stop talking, Snape is watching."

Nott hadn't brought his pen to the feast, but his fingers tapped on the edge of the table, as if recording every word into the wood.

Zabini unwrapped a candy wrapper, then put the candy back without eating it.

Dumbledore continued: "This year, fear has visited, misunderstandings have visited, and old cases have knocked on the door. Some have lost their freedom, some have received long-overdue innocence, some have learned to raise their wands in the face of danger, and some have learned to keep their mouths shut."

Ron almost laughed out loud when he heard the last sentence, but was suppressed by Hermione's gaze.

Harry did not laugh. He looked at the staff table, then toward the Slytherin table, his gaze stopping on Allen.

"I hope you remember one thing." Dumbledore picked up a lemon sherbet and turned it between his fingers. "Time is the gentlest and most ruthless of all magic. It gives people a chance for redemption, and it also exacts a price. It lets us reunite, and it also makes us understand that some missed opportunities cannot be repeated."

His gaze swept across the Great Hall, and when it landed on Allen, it paused for half a breath.

Half a breath was enough.

Draco's hand immediately pressed onto his wand under the table.

Pansy moved her cup to the side to block his movement.

Nott counted in a low voice, "One."

Allen did not look up. He was cutting a piece of pie, the blade falling precisely, and no filling flowed out.

Dumbledore placed the candy into his palm. "During the vacation, I hope everyone stays away from dangerous items, away from strange letters, and away from the impulse that makes you go out in the middle of the night. Especially the last one, Gryffindor students please listen carefully."

A few muffled laughs came from the Gryffindor table.

Harry lowered his head to drink water, and Ron pretended he hadn't heard.

Hermione put down her quill, her fingers pressing on the buckle of her schoolbag, as if the confiscated time-turner were still hanging there.

After the feast ended, the crowd surged toward the entrance hall.

Slytherin followed their habit of walking towards the back. Draco tried to sandwich Allen in the middle, but Pansy thought he was too obvious and pushed him to the front.

"Are you escorting a prisoner?" Pansy said.

Draco lowered his voice. "The Principal mentioned time just now."

Zabini followed behind. "He also mentioned strange letters. Do you want to examine every owl in the school?"

"I can start with your candy box."

Nott walked on Allen's left side. "Principal at the corner ahead."

By the candlelight at the end of the corridor, Dumbledore stood there, holding a lemon sherbet with reflective packaging.

He hadn't brought Fawkes, nor had he let the portraits warn him, just looking as if he were passing by.

"Allen, may I take a minute of your time?"

Draco immediately spoke up. "Professor, we still have to go back to pack our luggage."

Dumbledore looked at him. "Mr. Malfoy, luggage will not run away. Although at Hogwarts, this statement is occasionally inaccurate."

Zabini coughed with his head down.

Pansy pulled Draco back.

Nott stepped back half a step, his gaze falling on the armor hanging on the wall, confirming no one else was approaching.

Allen walked over. "Principal."

Dumbledore handed the candy to him. "Leftover from the feast. You said it was too sweet last time, I remembered, so this one is sourer."

Allen did not take it. "I'm afraid of a toothache."

"Very good, caution can protect teeth, and it can also protect secrets." Dumbledore withdrew the candy and peeled the packaging himself. "I wasn't cautious enough when I was young."

"So you like to make others cautious now."

Dumbledore put the candy in his mouth, his gaze behind his glasses landing on Allen's face. "Professor Trelawney said you saw a door in the crystal ball."

"She also said I have talent."

"That's not surprising. Every year she discovers several geniuses who are about to die from exam pressure."

"Then I don't rank on that list."

"You rank very high." Dumbledore looked at the other end of the corridor. "The old restricted area on the Third Floor used to have many doors. Some led to classrooms, some to storerooms, and some to troubles that adults thought children wouldn't find."

Allen did not respond.

"Last night by the Black Lake, there was a fold in the time structure." Dumbledore continued. "That was an allowed fold, with a clear starting point and ending point. But there was also a very thin branch in the Castle, like someone listening to a lecture outside the door, not entering the classroom, but writing down the notes from the blackboard."

"Do you not have to submit homework for listening to a lecture?"

"Usually you have to." Dumbledore smiled, then quickly stopped. "Severus has already assigned quite a few for me. But homework can only show ink, not a child's dreams."

Allen looked at him. "Dreams are not suitable for submission."

"I agree." Dumbledore folded the candy wrapper and put it into his sleeve. "So I will only leave one sentence. If the cracked pocket watch rings during the summer vacation, don't rush to answer it."

Allen's fingers stopped in his sleeve.

Deep in the Portable Space, the ebony box was quiet. The Void's tail pressed on the box lid, its silver eyes motionless. The cracked pocket watch did not light up, but it seemed to have heard its own name inside the box.

Dumbledore did not press to ask where the cracked pocket watch was, nor did he ask who it came from. He just dropped this sentence in the corridor, like putting a needle into a cup of water.

"What cracked pocket watch?" Allen asked.

"Perhaps it is an old object. Perhaps it is a segment of memory. Perhaps it is just a reflection in Professor Trelawney's crystal ball." Dumbledore looked at him. "If it really rings, sleep first. After waking up, many problems will become lighter."

"I sleep often."

"That's very good. Sleep is a magic that few students are willing to practice voluntarily."

Draco was almost unable to hold back in the distance. Pansy pinched his sleeve, and Nott counted in a low voice, "Twenty-seven, twenty-eight."

Dumbledore took his hand out of his sleeve. "Happy holidays, Allen. Give my regards to the Potter Family for me. If it is willing to reply."

"It has a bad temper."

"Old houses all have tempers. People are the same."

The Principal turned and left, his robe hem sweeping across the firelight.

Not until his footsteps disappeared behind the stairs did Draco rush over.

"cracked pocket watch?" His voice was tight. "How does he know about the cracked pocket watch?"

"He doesn't know the location," Allen said.

"How are you sure?"

"If he were sure, he would have said less."

Zabini put the candy box into his sleeve. "The Principal knows the cracked pocket watch exists, but doesn't know its complete form or the method of sealing."

Nott continued, "The source of information could be divination prophecies, crystal ball images, Potter Family records, or observations of time folds. Risk level upgraded."

Pansy looked at Allen. "You look worse than just now."

"The candy was too sour."

Draco cursed. "You didn't even eat it."

Allen walked toward the Dungeon. "That's why it was sourer."

In the Portable Space, the cracked pocket watch remained quiet. The Void's tail did not leave the box lid. Peter knelt in the cage, unable to hear the outside conversation, but could feel the thin walls of the space tightening after the Principal's name appeared. He clutched the half-written old list, not even daring to put down the pen.

After returning to the Common Room, Nott immediately repeated the conversation just now and added it to the third-year file.

Draco paced back and forth three times, finally pushing a stack of essays on the table in front of Allen.

"Finish at least one before you sleep."

"Why?"

"Because the Principal told you to sleep, and Snape told you to write. I choose Snape, at least he won't suddenly mention the cracked pocket watch."

Pansy pushed the ink over. "Returning tomorrow. If you don't write tonight, you will be blocked by Harry and Granger in turns on the train."

Zabini sat down. "And the vacation communication rules."

Nott opened the ledger. "Clear the essay debt first."

Allen looked at the stack of paper on the table and closed his eyes.

The blue light door of the old restricted area on the Third Floor lay quietly at the top of the file.

A line of words was added next to it: Dumbledore confirmed the concept of the cracked pocket watch, reminded not to respond in a hurry.

Allen picked up the quill. "Write about Dementors first."

Draco breathed a sigh of relief. "Finally, something that can be solved with ink."

Pansy looked at him. "Do you really think so?"

Draco looked at the stack of paper, and his face sank again.